The signature ride at Universal Orlando's new Diagon Alley will have big vehicles that can whisk 12 people through a Harry Potter story featuring villains, dragons and goblins, a Universal executive said Monday.

One goal for the new Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts ride was to allow "the whole family to be able to experience this," said Thierry Coup, senior vice president of Universal Creative Studios.

The ride is the centerpiece of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Diagon Alley, scheduled to open at the Universal Studios theme park this summer.

One way to involve larger groups or families, Coup said, was to increase the capacity of the vehicles. Escape from Gringotts cars will hold 12 passengers, as opposed to the four people who can ride on an "enchanted bench" in Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the ride that opened in 2010 with the original Wizarding World at Universal's Islands of Adventure.

"We wanted the level of thrills that Forbidden Journey has but maybe make it more visual than physical in some ways, trying to strike the right balance," Coup said. New projector technology and a nearly 360-degree screen will help immerse riders in the story at one point, he said.

"The time you spend in each scene with the characters is greater than we've been able to achieve in any ride," Coup said. "It's really going to give you the sense of being there with your favorite characters."

The height requirement for the Gringotts ride is expected to be 42 inches, Coup said. That's 6 inches shorter than Forbidden Journey.

Universal isn't calling the new ride a roller coaster.

"We've created an entirely new type of ride that propels guests into the story like never before," said Mark Woodbury, president of Universal Creative.

An opening date for the new Wizarding World has not been announced. When complete, Universal Orlando's Potter offerings will be in both of its Orlando theme parks, connected by the Hogwarts Express train.

The story for the Escape from Gringotts ride is set in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh book in the series by author J.K. Rowling.

The outside of the attraction will be topped by a 60-foot-tall, fire-breathing dragon figure.

Inside, the attraction's queue will include a stretch in the marble lobby of Gringotts. Guests, according to the story, will be there to open an account at the bank. Their journey will go many miles below London toward the institution's vaults, Coup said. Riders will encounter Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldemort.

"The guests will find themselves transported smack in the middle of the action when Ron, Harry and Hermoine break into the bank," Coup said.

The original Potter land, now called Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Hogsmeade, set a high standard, said Dennis Spiegel, president of the International Theme Park Services trade group.

Visitors are expecting a higher level of effects and animatronics, Spiegel said.

"If they deliver the experience that they design, I think you're going to see an incredible increase in attendance at the front gate again," Spiegel said. Islands of Adventure attendance rose more than 30 percent in the first year after Wizarding World opened.

In the Potterverse, Gringotts is a goblin-owned bank for wizards. It was portrayed in rollicking fashion in the films, which have grossed more than $7.7 billion at the box office worldwide. Fans have clamored for a Gringotts ride for years, Coup said.

"It's definitely something that we knew that everybody wanted," he said. "The second we started sketching ideas it was definitely going to be Diagon Alley and Gringotts Bank."

Universal Orlando will officially announce more details Tuesday about its Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts ride, one of the most anticipated elements of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter -- Diagon Alley, which is scheduled to open this summer at Universal Studios theme park.

Universal Orlando has posted a brief video that includes a look at goblins inside Gringotts Bank, a major feature of the under-construction Wizarding World of Harry Potter -- Diagon Alley at Universal Studios theme park.

Universal Orlando has revealed some details about its Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion: It is under construction at Universal Studios and will be made to look like London scenes, including Diagon Alley -- from the popular Potter films, keeping true to the series of Harry Potter book by...